On Saturday 100 V.I. prison inmates previously housed in correctional facilities across Virginia returned to the Golden Grove Correctional Facility on St. Croix, then on Sunday 11 new local inmates left for Virginia.
The 100 returning inmates arrived at the Henry E. Rohlsen airport about 3:30 Saturday on a U.S. Marshal ConAir, according to Government House.
Attorney General Vincent Frazer said the move is in keeping with a pledge Gov. John deJongh Jr. made late last year that the transfer of inmates from St. Croix to Virginia would be temporary.
“It has always been this administration’s intention to take care of its own, no matter what their status in the community," Frazer said
The Bureau of Corrections has augmented its staff and made the necessary improvements to the physical structure of Golden Grove to enable the prison to "house and safeguard the Virgin Islands’ own prisoners right here at home," he said.
Ninety-eight prisoners, including five women, were transferred to the Virginia Department of Corrections last September. Having a smaller population at Golden Grove over the last 10 months has allowed the Bureau of Corrections to enhance security, hire additional staff and establish stronger leadership, policies, programs and services in anticipation of the returning inmates.
The 11 inmates who shipped out Sunday are among those with the highest propensity for violence and require constant control and supervision. They will be divided among two Virginia prisons: Wallens Ridge State Prison in Wise County and Keen Mountain Correctional Center in Buchanan County. After accounting for both the prisoners who have returned and the prisoners who have left for Virginia, about 35 V.I. inmates are now housed in Virginia.
Depending on eligibility, the inmates will have access to the Virginia system’s educational, vocational and recreational programs; and medical, psychological and religious services, including counseling, work release and jail workforce programs, according to Government House.
